4 Things that your kids learn from your healthy marriage

Nichole Beaudry strives to capture the wonder, beauty, and whimsy in the small moments with her children.She earned her undergraduate degree in English from The University of Texas and her masters in English from California State Univers...

How your marriage impacts your kids’ future

Making your marriage a priority is one of the best gifts you can give your children and it’s one that will shape how they view their world. The love that parents show one another offers an excellent example of what real love looks like.

Each night when my husband gets home from work, he greets each of us and even with the chaos of the early evening, he and I take 10 or 15 minutes to reconnect with one another.

In those moments, we’re not only showing each other love, but we’re also showing our kids what love looks like. We put an emphasis on reconnecting and openly expressing love because if we don’t have a healthy relationship, our kids won’t know what one looks like.

Dr. Judith Siegel, PhD., author of What Children Learn from Their Parents' Marriage explains how important it is that we remember that as parents, we always have an audience: “Children are keen observers of their parents’ marriage. Whether or not you are aware of it, your children are noticing the large and the small details of your marital relationship.”

The art of negotiation and compromise

It’s important for our kids to see that we don’t always agree on things. By showing them how to talk openly and negotiate to find a compromise, they’ll learn how to do the same. Siegel explains: “[Children] pay attention to when and how you disagree, notice how you and your partner react to one another, and in countless ways form impressions about the rules of married life.”

How to express love

Whether it’s a hug before leaving each day, holding hands on a walk or a spontaneous kiss, kids pick up on the way their parents express love to one another and they learn from your tenderness and physical touch.

Loyalty and unity

When our children hear how we speak about our spouse to others, they are learning about loyalty. We all have rough days when we’re frustrated and tired, but resisting the urge to disparage your husband in front of others teaches our children about loyalty and the unity of family.

As Siegel so perfectly points out, “While your children may not be talking to you about what they are learning, they are drawing conclusions about ‘what happens’ to people who are married. These conclusions will become a permanent part of their beliefs and expectations, and will prepare them to form their own marital relationships when they are older.”